Plato raises $16M to build fake offices where AI agents learn real jobs

Plato raised a $16M Series A led by Nava Ventures, with Gradient Ventures and Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman joining. It pays professionals to recreate their jobs as simulations where AI labs train and test agents. Total funding is $19M.

Plato, a San Francisco startup that builds pretend workplaces where AI agents can practise real jobs, has raised a $16M Series A, the company said on Wednesday. Nava Ventures led the round, with Gradient Ventures, Transpose Platform and Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman joining.

Plato copies the software and tasks of real jobs, such as customer support, finance, accounting, HR and healthcare admin. AI labs use these copies to train agents by trial and error, and to test how well they work, without touching real money or real records.

“ Mastering real complex work comes from experience doing those tasks, ” said Robert Farlow, Plato’s co-founder and chief executive.

The firm checks both the end result and how an agent got there, including whether it followed the rules. That stops an agent from scoring well by gaming a test rather than doing the job properly, it says. Its backer Suleyman has argued that AI should be provably under control before it is released.

Plato was founded in 2025 and has now raised $19M in total. It will use the new money to pay professionals to rebuild their own jobs as simulations, and to send AI agents out on real tasks to gather more experience.

Demand for such training grounds is growing. This month, AI training firm micro1 said it will spend $1B on company data to build similar practice environments for agents. In June, San Francisco’s Patronus AI raised $50M to stress-test agents in simulated settings.

I am the Editor in Chief for TNW, covering technology not as a parade of launches and valuations, but as a system of influence, persuasion, (show all) I am the Editor in Chief for TNW, covering technology not as a parade of launches and valuations, but as a system of influence, persuasion, and change. I write about startups, venture capital, digital policy, and Europe ecosystem, with an eye on the larger story beneath them: who gets to build the future, who profits from it, and how Europe is learning to speak in a louder voice of its own. Before moving into senior editorial leadership, I've built my career for over +10 years across journalism, storytelling, content strategy, SEO, and digital publishing, with experience in SaaS, hospitality, art, and culture.

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